Potential 3rd Gen Owner w/ Questions

[Newbaru88]

Hey guys, my main rig is a 3rd Gen Tacoma but I’m interested in possibly picking up a 3rd Gen Legacy L Manual Trans 2.5L. It has 160,000 miles on it. The seller has very little maintenance paperwork but confirmed to me that it does need an O2 sensor and also needs the A/C recharged. She’s willing to let it go for around $1500. This seems like a great deal to me, but I don’t really know much about this vehicle. I know my Dad had a Subaru Legacy Wagon for construction work for 450,000 miles though and only pumped out like $3500 in maintenance for the vehicle (excluding oil changes and break pad/rotor changes). What are some things that I should look for when I look at this car? Is it even worth looking at to begin with, with the current issues it does have. Seems minor but I’ve never done any a/c maintenance on a car before and I have this funky feeling it could be more than it just needing the a/c recharged.

[doublechaz]

Has it had the head gaskets replaced? The 2.5 shipped from the factory with a gasket type that didn't hold up. If it has been switched by a good shop to the new type gasket it should be fine. You ought to get solid paperwork for that job. There are lots of us fanboys who don't care about this since we'll do the job ourself. People looking for a cheap reliable car who don't do their own work risk being disappointed.